Episode 5

In this episode we have a friendly reminder that Casey and Jeri are the two that put this whole story into motion. These two are the best couple, but their wedding plans don’t overtake the story. This is not a series about weddings, but the smooth re-intro of Casey and Jeri’s storyline is a welcome contrast to the chaos that ensues. Sera walks into the engaged couple’s apartment to find Ona sitting on a couch expectantly. Ona is obviously pleased with the situation, as her and Sera have the apartment to themselves.

Jeri and Casey had to run a wedding errand, and Ona and Sera set to work on folding paper flowers. This is origami. Ona sets a competitive mood, but some elapsed time later reveals two piles. Ona’s flower pile is twice as big as Sera’s. Sera gets frustrated, clearly not an experienced paper folder. Ona reveals a childhood obsession with Thousand Paper Cranes, a children’s book by Eleanor Coerr. For those unfamiliar with the story, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes recounts 12-year-old Sadako who becomes sick with leukemia. According to Japanese legend if an ill person folds a thousand paper cranes the gods will make them well again. Elementary schools often use this book to teach kids about the bombing of Hiroshima. As a young girl reading this story, Ona becomes inspired and sets a goal to fold ten thousand of her own paper cranes. At age eight she became the origami master from so much folding. The farther along we get in LESlieVILLE the more we see how different Ona and Sera are from each other. Just the two of them sitting across from each other further articulates this. Sera voices her folding frustrations and Ona comes over to help. She gets in close, and Sera zones into Ona’s close proximity. The viewer hears what Sera feels as Ona’s voice echoes. Sera is lovestuck, and Ona is obvious. Both of their faces fill up the frame and we see exactly what’s going on. This moment is really an expansion to when Ona caught Sera in Episode 1, and they had that love at first sight moment. Seeing both of their expressions in the same frame here explains that Sera’s emotions are more on the surface, and Ona is used to keeping her cool. The contrast is well played.

The echo effect on Ona’s voice diminishes, and the score comes in just a little more. Ona looks at Sera, and realizing their proximity, the two lean in for a kiss. The world doesn’t exist. Then Jeri and Casey interrupt just in time with exclamations of These two are not oblivious, they express their relief in seeing the origami flowers done, but can feel the sudden awkwardness that sprung between Ona and Sera. The reaction shots focus mostly on Sera, and we see she’s ready to bolt.

This is exactly what she does. The director made a good choice here in getting up close to Sera as she scrambles to leave, and leaving out any score. Here the viewer really feels Sera’s anxiety. The handheld continues out the door until Ona catches up with her to give Sera her forgotten purse. Sera saves face and tries to laugh it off. Ona doesn’t let go of the purse and ushers Sera into a hug. For a moment Sera gives into the bliss, but then wakes up remembering why she bolted in the first place. The camera moves with Sera as she leaves, showing her flight emotions. In the same shot we hear a giggle from Ona and see her run back inside. At home Sera tosses her purse on the floor, and we find a white origami crane staring up at her. The camera giving the viewer the crane’s perspective really keeps this shot interesting, and puts significance on the bird. The remainder of the episode plays out this way, but the focus switching from Sera, to the paper crane, and back again keep it from getting static. Sera’s final line here, while calling Gwen I assume, keeps the tone light and reinserts some comedic notes.